Florence Restaurants, Italy: Reviews and Recommendations of Where to Eat

Florence, Italy

In Florence restaurants ae plentiful and eating out can be a hard choice.  Still Tuscan in their roots they are very stubborn in their conservatism, especially when it comes to what they eat.  Florentines like their unsalted bread, their olive oil, their steaks rare and all washed down with a good red wine, mostly Chianti, as it has been for hundreds of years before.

In Florentine restaurants you can expect to see traditional entries on the menus such as bistecca, a steak from the chiana cattle that will be rare if you don't specifically ask for it to be well cooked (Ask for it to be "ben cotta);  crostini which are savoury toppings on top of fried or toasted bread;  ribollita, a traditional Tuscan soup with its roots in peasant food;  or castagnaccio, a chestnut flour cake.

Look out for Osterias and Trattorias. These are cheaper than restaurants and you can dine extremely well on very little.  Often you will need to have some smattering of the Italian language when going to a trattoria as they have a daily menu that changes according to what is season, fresh and available. This will be rattled off in Italian - so be warned. However, for the more adventurous give it a go, just say "si" and see what you get!

Here is our recipe for Castagnaccio

When visiting your Florence restaurants in Italy look out for this dish. Castagnaccio is a typical dessert made with chestnut flour, common to the Apennine mountain area of Tuscany. This is the Florence version with rosemary. Despite being a typically autumn and winter speciality, it can be eaten all year round because it can be enjoyed both warm and cold.

INGREDIENTS

400 g sweet chestnut flour
1/2 liter warm milk
pinch salt
2T  extra-virgin olive oil
50 g chopped pine nuts or walnuts
50 g sultanas
rosemary
grated orange rind (optional)

Sieve the flour, salt and add to the warm milk. Beat until smooth and there are no lumps. Add the oil, the pine nuts or walnuts and the sultanas previously soaked in warm water and squeezed. Mix all the ingredients and pour in a baking tin greased with oil. Batter should be at least 1 cm in thickness.  Top with rosemary needles, pine nuts or walnuts, the orange rind (optional) and a drizzle of oil. Cook in a mid oven (150-160°C) for about an hour.

For our recommended Florence restaurants see below:

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